Pursuant to the Action Plan of the Ministry of information policy of Ukraine for 2016, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and approved by the Minister on 3 February 2016, the interdepartmental working group to develop amendments to the legislation in the sphere of freedom of speech was established.
The working group includes:
Ruslan Kniazevych, MP of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on legal policy and justice;
Olha Chervakova, MP of Ukraine, first deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on freedom of speech and information policy;
Maria Ionova, MP of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European integration;
Bogdan Onufryk, MP of Ukraine, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on freedom of speech and information policy;
Yuri Artemenko, the Chairman of the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine;
Oleh Nalyvaiko, Director of the State Committee for television and radio broadcasting of Ukraine;
Larisa Shustenko, Director of the Department of information and public communication of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Also the representatives of the OSCE, the Council of Europe, international human rights organizations, public organizations and media experts were invited to the working group.
The Minister of information policy Yurii Stets: “The working group has a clear mission – to bring the Ukrainian legislation in the field of media and freedom of expression in accordance with the best European standards in the short term”.
The Deputy Minister Tetiana Popova: “Harmonization with the European legislation, adaptation to the requirements of our Western partners is an important step in the reforms implemented by the government.”
MP of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on freedom of speech and information policy Olha Chervakova: “In the near future the working group will make an analysis of the Ukrainian legislation in the field of media and freedom of speech, will systematize the best practices of civil society institutions and will propose a package of amendments to regulatory documents”.
In accordance with the Action Plan for 2016, the first priority of the Ministry of information policy of Ukraine is to bring the legislation in the sphere of freedom of expression in accordance with the European standards. The relevant international organizations and the best of Ukrainian media experts were invited to cooperate in this direction.